Sal Maiorana hands out his Bills grades

Coming off a 9-7 season, the Buffalo Bills' first campaign above .500 in a decade, Sal Maiorana analyzes the roster to see what went right and what didn't during a memorable year.

This 10-part series began Jan. 4 with a look at the quarterbacks and ended Jan. 14 with the (now former) coaching staff. Excerpts from each story -- along with links to the full versions -- are posted below.

Another year, and another lackluster, not-good-enough season-long performance by Buffalo's quarterbacks.

This has become a trend as prevalent and predictable as the Bills not making the playoffs year after year after year. Then again, those two things typically go hand-in-hand in the quarterback-driven NFL.

J.P. Losman, Trent Edwards, Kelly Holcomb, Ryan Fitzpatrick, EJ Manuel, Thad Lewis, and Kyle Orton. Is it any surprise this team hasn't played in the postseason for 15 years?

Sadly, there really isn't an end in sight to this maddening mediocrity. With no first-round draft pick in 2015 to either choose someone or use as leverage in a potential trade, and the usual array of unimpressive candidates in the free agent market, an upgrade seems unlikely.

There was a slight misconception about the Bills' running game in 2013.

True, Buffalo finished second in the NFL in rushing yards with 2,307 yards. What gets overlooked is it took a league-high 546 attempts to pile up that yardage — 46 more attempts than the Philadelphia Eagles who ranked No. 1 in rushing yards with 2,566.

The Bills' 4.2-yards-per-carry average tied for 14th in the league, and there were too many times during a 6-10 season when the running game wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

In 2014, there was no chance of that; it was never cracked up to be anything. The Bills had a miserable season rushing as they set a new franchise record-low in a 16-game season with a mere 1,482 yards. That was the lowest total in a non-strike season since 1971.

Johnny Manziel was the most polarizing player selected in the first round of the 2014 draft. But while Cleveland may rue the day it picked the king of drama, the Browns organization is still patting itself on its collective back for the trade it made with Buffalo a couple of hours before Manziel joined their team.

The Bills, desperate to select a game-changing wide receiver to help the development of second-year quarterback EJ Manuel, swapped places with the Browns, moving up from No. 9 to No. 4, so they could grab Clemson's Sammy Watkins. The Browns also received Buffalo's first- and fourth-round picks in 2015, a price I felt was exorbitant at the time, and nothing has changed my mind since.

Scott Chandler has been the Bills' primary receiving tight end for four years, and there isn't a defense in the NFL that feels the need to devote more than one defender to cover him, which makes it more difficult for Buffalo's wideouts to work against single coverage.

This season, Chandler's 497 yards ranked 17th among tight ends, and he was 19th with 47 receptions. The other three tight ends on the roster combined for 22 catches for 208 yards. It's just not good enough, and it should be an area the Bills try to address in the upcoming draft, quite possibly with their first pick in the second round.

All in all, the offensive line was a disaster in 2014, and the struggles up front dragged down the entire offense.

"A lot of guys at different spots," said center Eric Wood. "Kraig having to move from right to left after getting benched for weeks, Pears going from outside to in, that's a tough move, Seantrel is a first-year starter, Cordy had his illness deal this summer, and me, no excuse. Us not playing on a more consistent basis is disappointing and we have to improve on that."

Wood agreed that the line played a critical role in the failure of an offense that ranked 26th in total yards, 25th in rushing, and 28th in first downs. The Bills set a 16-game franchise low with 1,482 yards, and Kyle Orton — though his own lack of mobility played a role — was sacked 33 times.

Every week during the Bills season, the media partakes in a conference call with the opposing team's head coach and a selected player to get perspective on the upcoming game. In 2014, not one of the coaches neglected to mention how outstanding Buffalo's defensive line was, and what a challenge it would be to block those four brutes up front.

Often in these settings, there's a lot of lip service paid because no one will ever say anything negative about an opponent, especially the week of the game. Bill Belichick is famous for naming just about every guy on the roster and extolling their virtues as if they've all got a bust waiting for them in Canton.

This year, when talking about the Bills' dynamic defensive line, all of the platitudes we heard were actually well-deserved.

As the Bills look ahead to 2015, it will be interesting to see what happens to the second level of the defense. If defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz stays, and new head coach Rex Ryan allows him to continue running his wide nine 4-3, the Bills are in great shape at linebacker. Kiko Alonso is healthy and ready to get back to work on the weak side, Bradham will remain on the strong side, and Brown will probably shift into the middle because it seems unlikely the Bills will re-sign Spikes in free agency.

But if Schwartz leaves and Ryan switches to his preferred 4-3, well, things will get interesting. That would probably mean defensive end Mario Williams would play standup outside linebacker, and Manny Lawson might play the opposite side in the likely event Jerry Hughes is no longer on the team. That would leave Alonso, Bradham, and Brown to play the two inside spots, and Bradham struggled in that role in 2013.

This team is constructed well to play the 4-3, but Ryan may not agree, and several players will be affected if the switch is made to the 3-4.

When December rolled around and the Bills were going to be playing against three sure-fire future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, there wasn't an ounce of fear in the defensive backs meeting room.

There was no denying the greatness of Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady, and there was respect for the receiving corps of the Broncos, Packers, and Patriots that the secondary would be asked to cover.

But as Corey Graham said, "We're pretty good."

And they were. In December, and all season.

After a 2013 season that was littered by poor play on special teams, the Bills made a concerted effort to upgrade in that area for 2014, and they clearly succeeded.

The free agent signings of Boobie Dixon and Corey Graham were both made with the distinct goal of solidifying Buffalo's kicking teams, as was the release of long-time punter Brian Moorman in favor of Colton Schmidt, and the addition of kickoff specialist Jordan Gay.

According to advanced metrics website Football Outsiders, the Bills ranked 30th in the NFL in 2013 in special teams efficiency, but they soared all the way to fourth in 2014, and the reasons were plentiful.

"It's very rewarding," said special teams captain Marcus Easley. "Special teams was a big emphasis going into this season with some of the signings that they made, so it was an area that we had to improve on and I think we did just that."

Doug Marrone certainly had his detractors in Buffalo, mainly because he wasn't very innovative on offense, he rarely coached aggressively, and he came across as a sour puss in public through his dealings with the media. Honestly, I've never seen a coach who seemed to enjoy winning less than Marrone. His press conferences following victories were often head scratching, and you walked away wondering which team actually won.

However, he did lead the Bills to nine victories in 2014, the most since Mike Mularkey — who also quit on the Bills after his second year at the helm — did that in 2004. Buffalo was in the playoff hunt until a disastrous Week 16 loss at Oakland, and Marrone deserves credit for keeping the team on task through the ownership transition, and of course the historic snowstorm that displaced the Bills for nearly a week and cost them a home game at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Will he be missed? Unlikely, especially given that his replacement is the fun-loving Rex Ryan. Ryan made an instant connection with the fan base and is considered in most circles to be an excellent coach, even though his 50-52 career record may suggest otherwise.